Everyone received the envelope and the challenge to take whatever amount you were given and grow it, add to it, invest it and use it to make a difference in someone’s life and then share your stewardship story or plan with me.  You can email or snail mail me your story or leave a reply to this post in the box below.

I cannot wait to hear your responses!

Here are a few moments from my life in 2010:

#12 Serving the homeless of Indianapolis with Tear Down the Walls Ministry.

#11 Seeing how God has used my mom’s battle with cancer for good.

#10 Snuggling with Harrison and Ryan at bed time when I tuck them in bed.  There are few things better than being a dad.

#9  Running my first marathon in Nashville, TN.

#8  Camping with Harrison and Ryan in the Great Smokey Mountains.

#7  Being at Disney on New Year’s Eve.  The 360 degree firework show was off the chain!

#6 Seeing Married Life Live launched this year at Stones Crossing Church.

#5 Watching Stones Crossing Church grow 25% in one year.

#4 My 40th Birthday!

#3 Seeing the Alabama Crimson Tide win their 13th National Championship against Texas.

#2 Hearing Harrison pray, “Jesus, please help me, please help me,” when he broke his arm playing football.

#1  Preaching my dad’s funeral.

Now it is your turn.  Share with me one of your best moments of the 2010.

As we were loading up our vehicles to begin the outreach, Harrison asks, “Dad, why do they call the ministry, ‘Tearing Down the Walls’?  I don’t understand what walls have to do with helping the homeless.”  It was a good question.  My wife, Luann, explained to him that invisible walls exist between the homeless and the average person.  She said sometimes those of us who have been blessed with much cannot see the needs of those who have little.

She was spot on.  And little did I know, she was actually describing me.

Our first stop was under an overpass, just a Peyton Manning touchdown pass away from Lucas Oil Stadium, where I met Ron.  He was laying underneath a stack of tarps, covers and blankets.  In the 18 degree weather, we took some time to hear his story, we prayed with him and gave him something to eat.  Judging from the amount of stuff he had collected around his bed, Ron has been living underneath that bridge for a long time.  As many times as I go downtown, I should have noticed that someone was living under that bridge, but I never did.   It was like an invisible wall had kept me from noticing him. But on this night, we tore down that wall.

Our next stop was to visit a man named Mark.  Mark was living in a tent on a wooden platform in the woods overlooking the White River.  Mark was so cold, he just stayed inside the tent and poked his head out the door while laying down in order to talk with us.  I knelt down beside him and asked him to tell us his story.  He told us how he used to be a manager at Radio Shack as well as a radio station DJ.  He explained how he had been disabled by a tragic accident that injured his back severely and that God had used it to “humble him.”  As we listened to Mark, I could not believe how intelligent he was.  I did not think a homeless person could be so smart.  I was wrong.  We tore down another invisible wall.

One of our last stops was across the street from The Spaghetti Factory.  As Harrison and I began serving plates of hot spaghetti, a short line of homeless men quickly formed behind our vehicle.  While we passed out hot chocolate, bottled water, hand warmers to our newest homeless friends, I could not help but notice the plethora of people walking by us on the street that did not even notice what we were doing.  It was as if a wall existed that kept people from seeing how hungry these guys really were.

Truthfully, I was the one who walked downtown and never really noticed people in need.  I never knew a significant number of men are living in camps along the White River.  I never noticed a man named Ron who lived under an overpass so close to where the Colts play.  I had been living behind a wall.  A wall of my own stereotypes and prejudices, a wall of preoccupation with my own plans as well as a wall of busyness that has kept me from seeing the need of people for what it really is and then doing something about it.

All I know is this.  The skyline of Indianapolis has forever changed for me because now, so many walls are down.

There is a story in Luke 17 that powerfully illustrates this principle.  One day Jesus was walking into a village when ten lepers spotted him and cried out, “Jesus, have mercy on us.”  Jesus told them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”  The lepers go to the priests.  The Bible tells us that as they went, they were healed of their leprosy.  All of them had to be ecstatic that they had just received their lives back.  Now, they could publicly worship at the temple.  They could live with their families. They could get their jobs back.  Their deliverance from leprosy was a game changer for each of them.  But only one out of the ten who were healed came back to Jesus to thank Him.  Just one.

There is a huge lesson here.  Were these guys grateful?  Undoubtedly, they felt very grateful.  They had to be thrilled beyond measure.  They probably did not even bother going to the priest.  They jumped up and down and embraced their kids and hugged their wives and shook hands with their friends.  And they said, “I am healed, I am healed, I am cleansed.”  And if the people asked how is it that you no longer have leprosy, what do you think they said?  They said, “Jesus healed me.  Jesus set me free, the miracle worker, Jesus, the one you have heard about healed us!”  Certainly they spent the rest of their life telling their story.  They were as grateful as they could possible be.  Someone does not give you your life back and you not feel grateful.

Their problem was not that they did not feel grateful.  The problem was that they never returned to express their gratitude. The issue here is unexpressed gratitude always sends the message of ingratitude. None of us consider ourselves ungrateful people because at times, we feel very grateful.  And because we feel grateful, we deceive ourselves into thinking we are grateful people.  But the problem is, unexpressed(not unfelt) gratitude communicates to others ingratitude.  Unexpressed gratitude communicates to other people the very opposite of what we are feeling.  Jesus asked, “Where are the other nine?”   Jesus knew gratitude not expressed feels very much like ingratitude.

Can you think of one person that you need to thank today?  Take a minute and return to the person and express your gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Luck family attended the University of Alabama’s Spring Football game, A-Day.  There were 91,000 people in attendance to watch this practice game.  Needless to say, Coach Saban and I were very pleased with the outcome.

From Heather:

“I have already delivered our gifts to our adopted family.  They are really sweet!  Would love for our church to stay in touch with this family.  They are currently looking for new inexpensive housing so if anyone knows of anything please contact me or the family.  They have such consuming health issues it is hard for them to attend church services but she definitely seemed open to the word and God’s love.  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to meet this precious family.”

From Steve and Laura:

“I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to serve someone in need this Christmas.  My husband and I wanted all of our family to participate in a project such as this.  Last evening we loaded the kids in the car (some were a little grumpy at first) and headed off to the store.  Once the shopping commenced, everyone seriously went into action looking for just the right gift!  We all began to have fun and didn’t mind sacrificing time to bless another person in need.  The gifts were delivered and the family was very grateful.  Thank you for organizing this project and giving our family an opportunity reach out to another.  We were so blessed!!!”

This one is from Melanie:

“Hi!  We delivered everything to our adopted family on Wednesday evening.  They were great.  We spent time talking with them.  They do have an older daughter, 19 who lives with them that wasn’t on the list.  So we are going to send her some $ for her classes she is taking in January.”

From Debra and Rick:

“We delivered our presents to our family on Wednesday. They were very appreciative. I told them to give the gifts to the children from them. We felt blessed to be able to help.”

This was a note that Miki received from one of the families we ministered to.  It shows you how powerful sacrificial love can be.

“I want to thank you from the bottom on my heart! This means so much to me and will be such a blessing for my boys! I can’t wait to the day when I can help someone else out who is in need…But now under my circumstances, God has provided in so many ways for my boys and I. So each and every day I wake up I thank him for his guidance, understanding, and for walking with me every step of the way! I could go on about the many blessings that have happened. But the day you called me I was is shock as I knew it was going to be hard for me to give my boys a Christmas they deserved. I was so blessed by your call! …As I said this means so much to me and I promise you one day I will pay it forward! I am a big believer in that!

Our church is amazing!  Let’s keep it up!

“We have gone to church for a long time and we have always given an offering but we never tithed.  Over the last year God has been speaking to us in this area of our lives.  On Sunday January 22, Pastor Scott was speaking about tithing and we decided (even before he issued the 3 month challenge) that we were going to listen to God, give God control of our finances and begin the practice of tithing.  During that service I wrote a 2nd check for the amount that made 10% of our pay that week and added it to the envelope.  My husband had no idea I had written this extra check.  We got home from church that day and he handed me in cash the exact amount of money that I had written that 2nd check for!  I laughed and told him about the check and that it was for the same amount that the cash was.  I knew God would bless us, but I sure didn’t expect it to happen that fast!”

Here is another one I received:

“In January we realized that our family had approximately $1,000 in unexpected bills that we had not prepared for.  Although there was no way that our income would cover these expenses we continued to tithe our 10% in faith that somehow we would figure it out later.  Not truly having any plans.  Sort of just using the ignore method.  In January we made a decision to change our home owners insurance policy in attempt to save a little money.  After making this change we received a check for roughly $950 due to overpayment from our original insurance policy that we had canceled.  God is capable and faithful and all I can say is look out, He will do measurable more than what we could ever imagine.”

And there is more:

“2009 was a very hard year for us. Our family endured a lot of illness (nothing serious) that resulted in a lot of medical bills, co-pays and deductibles. It seemed as if every time we turned around, something in our house was going out and we were having to replace water heaters and water softeners and garage doors and openers. Then there was my car. Fuel pump, odometer, breaks down. WHAT MORE???? We also suffered with marital struggles.   Instead of continuing to trust God, we gave less and less. And felt more and more guilt.   Pastor Scott’s  messages on tithing helped spur the reminder that God is faithful and God is good. He will provide all we need and more when we trust in Him. We starting giving again and already God has blessed us with a healthier marriage, a more profitable business and a better outlook on life. And that’s just since last month. Imagine what God can do for us as we continue to trust Him.”

Not done yet…read this:

“This last series, In The Zone has been great for us.  We have committed to be the faithful givers that we know He wants us to be, so we began 2010 with our tithe, and just today, as I was driving down 135 my van began to overheat!  This became very depressing to me, as we had just had the transmission rebuilt not that long ago, but I remembered Pastor Scott’s sermon from Sunday and began to thank God that we have a vehicle.  I called my husband who just happened to be on the South side of town to let him know what was happening and he came and got the van to have it checked.  We ended up needing a new radiator and water pump, which was estimated to cost $796.00.  I began to chuckle because you see, our taxes were filed Wednesday night, February 3, an all time record, and our return was $800!!!  It’s just like our God to bless us in ways we would never expect!  I often wonder why we always think God will bless us financially, because my blessings have always come in the way of relationship building, but today I was shown that God always meets us where we need him the most.  Thank you so much for this series!  We love this church, we love the staff and we are excited for the vision of this church!”

You just cannot out give God!

Here is my challenge:  wake up everyday for the next three days and before you roll out of bed, think of three things you are thankful for.  Identify them.  Speak them.  Treasure them. Thank God for them.  Then let me know the difference this simple step makes in your day.

So the man takes a small pair of scissors and he makes the opening of the cocoon larger so that the moth could escape.  The moth emerged, but with a swollen body and shriveled wings.  The man thought that in time the moth’s wings would expand and it’s body would contract to a normal size for a moth.  It never did.  In fact, the moth was never able to fly.

The man did not realize the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body INTO the wings so that the moth would be ready for flight once it had emerged from the cocoon.

So many times I catch myself thinking, “God, why don’t you take this problem away?  Why don’t you remove this obstacle?”  I  forget so often that these very struggles taken away from me would cripple me from being what God wants me to be just like this man crippled the moth by removing it’s struggle. Problems, pain and adversity drive me to a greater dependence on God.  The struggle increases my faith.  The struggle produces something in me that comfort and ease could never produce.

1 Peter 5:10 sums it up pretty well:  And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling. I love this verse!   God will make everything right.  He also promises to make us strong and to support us.  And even in the midst of the struggle, we don’t have to fall.  The difficulty of the cocoon is essential for the development of the moth;  difficulties in our lives are essential to our growth as well.